1. Intro

The purpose of this Guide is to cover most important aspects of tanking,
explaining everything about the basics you need to know and understand,
in order to become a great Tank.
This Guide will not go too deep into detail about Stat-/Skill-Specs, proper gemming or anything else,
but will provide several recommendations.
It will still be your own job to make best out of it, and improve your Skill by experience and knowledge.
The Vanguard-Class is the standard (Main-) Tank, but also foremost Melee-Class in Revelation.
Vanguards are Leaders and valiant Protectors on the Battelfield, because of their impressive array of defensive abilities.
They have extreme survival abilities and control skills to endure damage or give their teammates opportunities to attack, defend a foothold.
Also it has a decent damage mitigation due to its AoE-Abilities.Class Role:
• Primary: Main Tank
• Secondary: Off-DPSCombat Style:
• Melee – physical combat.Difficulty:
Battle tactics and combat rotations are kind of intuitiveClass Advantages:
• heavy defense
• Leader-Class (PvX)
• can easily endure long FightsClass Disadvantages:
• weaker Attack-Power than other Classes
• Close CombatTeam Position:
A formidable tank, protected by an enormous shield, the Vanguard leads the charge and protects teammates.Main Weapon: Spear/HalbertSecondary Weapon: Shield

I personally would say, that Vanguard deserves a higher Difficulty Level than the offcial 2 Stars

2. Statuspoints

The Vanguard has two Primary-Stats and one Secondary-Stat, which are:(Please keep in mind, that following Stats are just Suggestions,
you will have to adapt them depending on your Bonus-Stats and Gear!)

Main/Primary-Stats:

Vigor (CN = Constitution)

Vigor is the Main source of additional HP and Phys-Def.
So we want to have lots of it!

Spirit (CN = Spirit)

Spirit will give us Magic-Def. and HP aswell.Depending on Bonus- and Gear-Stats,
you might want to have few more Points on Spirit,
to compansate the gap between Phys.- and Magic-Def.

Secondary:

Strength (CN = Power)

Strength: I would recommend using at least 100 Points on Strength,
for overall DPS aswell as for Aggro.

Example:

Stat-Overview NA

Stat-Overview CN

Level 49

Level 59

Stat-Ratio: every 4 Spirit -> 3 Vigor -> 1 Strength (Example)

2.1 Stat-Builds

Following Builds are just used to be examples!Bonus Stats are included, in those Builds! (Basic+Bonus)
You need to adjust it yourself, depending on Gear/Level and Knowledge.

2.1.1 Full-Tank

Lv 49

Lv 59

Lv 69

Strength

50-100

80-120

100-150

Spirit

130-170

180-220

200-250+

Intelligence

1

1

1

Dexterity

1

1

1

Vigor

110-150

170-210

200-240+

Preferribly go for higher Tank-Stats (Vigor and Spirit)

2.1.2 Hybrid

Lv 49

Lv 59

Lv 69

Strength

100-150

150-200

180-230

Spirit

80-130

150-170

170-200

Intelligence

1

1

1

Dexterity

40-60

60-80

80-100

Vigor

80-110

120-150

150-170

You can adjust the Dex. for Crit and use more points on Strength,
or Tank-Stats instead (depending in Gear)
Sidenote:
Please keep in mind, that the Hybrid-Build is supposed to be for experienced Players,
that already have a moderate Knowledge about the Class, and know how to handle it.
This Build can be very difficult and also expensive, at the endgame content.

2.1.3 DPS

Lv 49

Lv 59

Lv 69

Strength

100-150

150-240

230-300

Spirit

50-80

80-100

100-120

Intelligence

1

1

1

Dexterity

80-90

90-100

100-120

Vigor

40-70

70-90

90-110

You can adjust stats and try to go for more Crit/Strength, depending on Gear

3.2 Normal / Damage Skills

RMB-Skill (Action-Mode)
Area of Effect Skill
adds Bleeding Effect to Target for 6 sec.
very Important Skill for Overall DPS,
used in all of our Rotations (its a must)
Can be used during a Jump or in the Air.
(used for Ani-Cancle)

CC-Break (IMPORTANT)
Control Immunity for certain Amount of Time
(You want to have low/reduced Cooldown on this Skill, especially for PvP)

Light Shield

Light Shield

Absorbs damage for 3 seconds
2 Stage-Skill
1st Stage: Summons Shield on Caster
2nd Stage: Releases Damage in front of Caster
Second Stage will release after certain Amount of Time, or by activating Skill again
(used to absorb Damage)

No Fear

Fearless

Fearless has 3 different uses depending on your Stance
Def-Stance: Damage decreased by 50% and Defence increased by 50%
Normal-Stance: Damage increased by 20% and defence increased by 20%
DPS-Stance: Damage increased by 50% and defence decreased by 50%
(Effects can also be adjusted with Arcane Arts)

3.3 Combo-Skills

Combo-kills are your F1-F6 skills.
They are splitted up in two Paths: Damage (Heavens Wrath) and Defense (God´s Blessing)
You can only have 3 out of 4 abilities active at the same time, for each Path.
The resource for Heavens Wrath-Skills are generated by your Damage Abilities
and your God´s Blessing Resources are generated by the Amount of taken Damage.

Heavens Wrath

God´s Blessing

3.3.1 Heavens Wrath

Icon

Name NA

Name CN

Description

Sundering Steel

Lei Fei – Break

Shield throwing ability that deals lots of Damage.
It can double the Damage, if Targets HP is below a certain Amount (%).

Relentless Hurricane

Yan Lei – turn

Channels a 30 Second Spin-To-Win Skill.
Grants CC-Immunity (very interesting for PvP).
Can be canceled by jumping or dashing.

Massive Area of Effect Knock-Down.
Multiple Knock-Downs in a row, to Enemies inside the AoE-Radius.
Requires quite huge Amount of Resource.
Pretty high Damage Output (Burst).

3.3.2 Gods Blessing

Icon

Name NA

Name CN

Description

Thunder Strike

Thunder Shake

AoE-Knockdown with decent Damage.
It has a short radius, but can be very effective,
if you use it wisely.

Holy Vortex

Capture

Massive AoE-Pull. Moderate Damage.
The Range is a bigger than it’s visual Effect.

Indomitable Will

Gang member

Area of Effect Buff / Party-CC-Break
Can be used as Taunt-Skill, while being in Def.-Stance.
Party Buff, to dispell CCs and harmful Debuffs,
from Caster and Teammates,
inside the Range of the AoE-Radius

3.3.3 Combo Skill Tree Basics

1. Roads / 2. Effect / 3. Orbs and Progress / 4. Upgrade costs
Roads are used to add additional Effects to your Combo-Skills.
In order to add a Road to your selected Combo-Skill,
you have to gain 1000 points on a Road first, to unlock it. (1.)
To Learn a specific Road, you will have to chose and confirm it, (2.)
by clicking on the “Learn” button.
Before the chosen Effect will be added, (3.)
you will have to offer a specific Amount of Daos.
The amount and quality of required Dao´s can vary,
depending on Skill-Grade (1/2/3 Star) and the Road-Level (4.)
If you dont have enough Daos at a time,
you can store them on the Skill(listed on top),
untill you have the required Amount of Daos stored/offered.

3.3.5 Road-Recommendation

I recently edited this Tab, and added Tank- and DPS-specific reccommendations.⦁ Sundering Steel:

Tank and DPS

to increase Damage

to activate the Increased Damage-Effect,
when the HP of the Target is low (certain percentage of HP).

⦁ Relentless Hurricane:

Tank

to increase Skill-Damage

to add an Life-Steal Effect

DPS

to increase Skill-Damage

to reduce Cooldown

⦁ Blazing Charge:

Tank

or

to increase Damage

to increase the Knockdown duration.

DPS

to increase Damage

Will decrease Resource costs

⦁ Smite:

Tank

to increase Damage

to increase the Knockdown duration in between Knockdowns

DPS

to increase Damage

Will decrease Resource costs

⦁ Thunder Strike:

Tank

to reduce Cooldown

to lower Defense of surrounding enemies by certain Percentage

DPS

to increase Damage

to reduce Cooldown

⦁ Holy Vortex:

Tank

to reduce Cooldown

to reduce the Damage (%) of Enemies,
for a certain amount of Time

DPS

to increase Damage

to reduce Cooldown

⦁ Indomitable Will:

Tank

to reduce Cooldown

to reduce the Damage of surrounding Enemies

DPS

to increase Damage

to reduce Cooldown

⦁ Shield Storm:

Tank

to increase Damage reduction

or

to reduce Cooldown or to increase Damage

DPS

to increase Damage reduction

to reduce Cooldown

3.4 Aerial-Skills

Aerial Skills can be used while flying (Wings activated).
That will make you able to attack Targets from or in the Air.

Icon

Name NA

Name CN

Description

Heroic Strike – Aerial

Flying Slam

Damage in front of player

Deals 87.7% of physical attack + 1006-1230 damage

Radius: 5
Cooldown: 0.6

Sundering Steel – Aerial

Flying – Break

Damage to enemy target

Deals 290.5% of physical attack + 3333-4073 damage

Damage increases by 100% if target have less than 20% health

Range: 30
Cooldown: 4

Conqueror´s Sweep – Aerial

Flying Rotary Cut

Damage in front of player

Deals 285.1% of physical attack + 3272-3999 damage every second over 3 seconds

You cannot move during attack

Radius: 2×5
Cooldown: 6

Dragongrip – Aerial

Flying Long grip

Pulls enemy target

Interrupts target casting

Deals 127.5% of physical attack + 1463-1788 damage

Stuns target for 3 seconds

Range: 30
Cooldown: 15

Holy Vortex – Aerial

Flying Capture

Pull surrounding enemies

Pull surrounding enemies

Deals 170.8% of physical attack + 1960-2395 damage

Stuns enemies for 3 seconds

Radius: 10
Cooldown: 15

Wyrmweed – Aerial

Flying Xiao Tian

Frees from control effects and increases movement speed

Control immunity for 5 seconds

Movement speed increases by 50% for 5 seconds

Cooldown: 11

3.5 Arcane Arts / Talent Points

Arcane Arts are additional/optional Talents, which can change or add Effects to your normal Skills.
You can find them, by pressing “K” to open the Skill-Overview.
Click on the Blue Bubble, at the Bottom, to open the Arcane Arts-Tab.
In there you can add/adjust Effects of your Damage (Normal) Skills.

3.5.1 Unlocking Arcane Arts

Theres two ways to unlock Arcane Arts:
– buying Skill-Books off the Auction/NPC etc
– dropping them in GrandBulwark Reverse (Intermediate Books)
or in Machinarium Reverse (Advanced Books)
In the following Steps, i will describe where and how to buy the Books:

3.5.2 Talent Overview

Effects and priority Rating:
The Effects will be splitted into four different Priorities:unimportant/bad,okay, good, very good,excellent/mandatory(Color coding similar to ingame Ratings, which means: worst = Grey > Green
> Blue > Purple > Gold = best )

– During “Tyrant state” Movement Speed will be increased by 15%/30%/45%

– very good

Intermediate
Path 1

– Duration of “Tyrant state” (CC-Immunity) will be increased by 0.5/1/2 seconds

– very good

Advanced
Path 1

– In “Tyrant state” (CC Immunity) when a crit is landed,
Cool Cown of Wyrmweed will get reduced by 1/3/5 seconds,
but can only trigger every 3 seconds

– good

Beginner
Path 2

– Increase Combo Resource gain by 10%/20%/30%

– unimportant/bad

Intermediate
Path 2

– Cool Down will Decrease by 7%/14%/20%

– very good

Beginner
Path 3

– In “Tyrant state” incoming Physical and Magic Damage will decrease by 5%/10%/15%

– very good

Light Shield

Beginner
Path 3

– Shield (Absorbtion) Amount will be increased by 15%/30%

– very good

No Fear

Beginner
Path 1

– In “Damage Stance” critical Damage increases by 10%/20%/30%

– very good

Beginner
Path 3

– Crit resistance will be increased by 15%/25%/40% while No Fear is active

– good

Intermediate
Path 3

– In “Tank Stance” incoming healing increases by 15%

– okay

4. Aggro and Threat

This section will cover most important Infos about generating,
maintaining/accumulating and regaining Aggro.

4.1 Threat and Aggro

Generating Threat and maintaining Aggro are two very important characteristics of a Tank.
Understanding these and their difference, is very important for your overall performance as a Tank.

4.1.1 Threat

Threat is a means to determine the the amount of hostility bewtween a mob and the player.
Each mob has a threat table, and every person who performs amount of hostility actions will be put on that table.
Thread can either be generated by dealing Damage or by Healing.
Usually, Threat gets generated by a 1:1 ratio with damage done to the mob, and a 1:2 ratio with healing done.
Also Tanks usually generate way more Threat than Healers, due to their DPS.
Threat normally does´t decrease over time or otherwise, unless their is a mechanic to lower or vanish it.
Last but not least, your Threat will reset if you die, or leave the battle (for example: Disconnect).

4.1.2 Aggro

Having aggro means having the highest amount of threat against a mob, and that mob attacks them because of it.
Thats what Tank should aim for.
Important fact, theres Situations where you dont want to have Aggro of certain Mobs.
For example: Special Boss mechanics in Raids, which require a second Tank or other Teammates to gather Mobs at a different place.
Also important to know, is that you dont just get “Aggro” by simply overtaking Threat on the Mob/Boss.
It will require you to keep increasing the Threat continuously, to be able to hold the Aggro.
Especially if you have DPS-Classes with higher level or better Gear in your party.

4.2 Ability Rotations

Tanks need to have Rotations, just like DPS-Classes.
Instead of the Gameplay of DPS-Classes, Tanks have to use their Rotations mainly to generate Threat,
and Resources for their Combos to be able to hold the Aggro.
We will go further into Rotations later on.
I will devide Abilities for Vanguards in three Categories:
– Damaging and Threat-Generating Skills
– Damage mitigation abilities (survivability)
– Others: like Buffs/Debuffs, Taunt, CC, etc.

4.3 Initial Aggro

As Main-Tank its your job to start encounters, whether in PvP or PvP.
That means, you will have to Charge/Pull the Bosses/Mobs in Dungeons.
Always make sure you let your Team know, if youre ready or not.
This should give you the opportunity to gain the initial Aggro.
Make sure to always use your Defense-Stance (Benetnash) to generate Threat from the very beginning
Also i would recommend using Heroic Leap as your “Main-Charge”.
Even if theres other ways, to get the initial Aggro, this will be the safest way to initiate.
As a Tank it is really important to (perfectly) know your Skills and their Effects,
especially those which can generate lots of Threat.
To be able to initiate your Fights with Skills that will generate lots of Threat.
Be prepared to use your Taunt abilities (example: Indomitable Will), in case you lose Aggro.
Make sure to save them, for the “worst case” (losing Aggro), to regain it as fast as possible.

4.3.1 Adds

There will be Situations where you have to pull single or few Mobs (Adds), during a Fight (Dungeins, Raids).
These Situations require you to use your Pulls, or other ranged Attacks to generate Threat on the Adds.
You should always be aware of this Situation, and have some sort of a backup plan for it.
Which generally means, try to not have all ranged Skills or Pulls on Cooldown at the same time.
(Be proactive)
Also and even more important:
Keep an close eye on your Livesavers (aka Healers)
They will generate Threat on Adds, with their Heals, if you dont react fast enough
Try to always stay in good Position to your Healer!

4.4 Maintaining Aggro

There will be Times when holding Agrro can become very Difficult, just as mentioned before.
Being Outgeared, Outleveled or even switching off Targets, can be such reasons.
Thats why its so important to know your Skills, Effects and their priority perfectly!
Proper knowledge of your Skills will, in most cases, guarantee that you do not lose aggro.Important Skills to Maintain Aggro:

Benetnash (Defense Stance and Arcane Arts – Beginner Path 3)

Heroic Leap (including Arcane Arts – Beginner Path 3)

Crippling Bolt (awesome AoE – pretty nice DMG)

Holy Vortex (Nice DMG + Taunt)

Indomitable Will (adds Taunt-Effect on active Defense-Stance)

Dragongrip (not necessary; Arcane Arts – Beginner Path 3)

In case you lack too much Experience,DPS, or whatever makes your Threat suffer,
you can use Dragongrip (Arcane Arts) as additional Threat Skill, but this is not necessary!
In case you have Issues to keep up the Aggro,
try to use Skills like Holy Vortex or Indomitable Will as often as possible!
Those Skills arent just good fillers,
they also deal some decent DPS aswell as they have a Taunt Effect,
which makes them very valuable, especially in DungeonsImportant: Indomitable Will only get its Taunt effect during active Defense-Stance (Benetnash)
Also i would recommend using Smite, as long as the Situation allows it.
Smite is a great burst (AoE) DPS-Skill (also Knockdown), and can Deal a great Amount of Damage in really short Time.
But it also has a moderate Animation-Time, so you shouldnt use it in Situations where it could cost your life.

4.5 Regaining Aggro

Theres Situations, when you will need to regain your Aggro.
For example by dieing (worst case) or unintentionally by getting Out-DPSed.
Such situations can happen, especially when youre new to the Game or the Tank-Role at all
Therefor we have Taunts, like Indomitable Will.
Make use of your Taunt Skills, when the Sitation requires it.
For Targeting in general, i would Recommend using the “Action-Mode”, and likewise Tab-Targetting.
You can either switch through the Mobs, by hovering over them with the crosshair,
or lock a certain Mob/Boss, by hitting Tab a second time.
This will ensure a secure Targetting while a Fight is in progress, which is also good for PvP

5. Rotations / Skill-Priority

Rotations are very important for our Overall DPS and Aggro.
We always want to improve our Rotations, and optimize them as much as we can.
(and in case you do, let me know ;P)
But to do that, we need to know some Basics like:
Main-Skills, Filler, and how to Cancel Animations
Please keep in mind, that following Examples are just Suggestions and not final, neither are they the one perfect Solution.

5.1 Rotation Basics

The Basics are devided into three different Branches:

Main Skills

Filler

Animation Canceling

Also you should know, that there is a bunch of Skills that can actually be Ani-Canceled,
which we will use to have a decent Rotation, aswell as to optimize our DPS.
In my personal Opinion i would recommend to use the Combo Skills as Fillers,
and not as Part of the Main-Rotation.
For the Rotations itself i would recommend focusing on Animation-Canceling.

5.1.1 Main Skills

Tornado Sweep

Conqueror´s Sweep

Crippling Bolt

Broken Array

Dragongrip

Sundering Steel

5.1.2 Filler Skills

Combo Skills will be Fillers for our Rotations.
Because we cant Maintain our DPS with Skills,
which we dont want to Ani-Cancel, even if they deal high Damage.
You should still try to use them as often as possible (for example Smite, as Burst).
Make sure to use them properly.
Don´t Spam Combo-Skills one after another,
this will cost you too much time and make you lack DPS-Output.
Following Skills will be our Rotation-Fillers
(doesnt make them less important!)

Heroic Strike

Smite

Holy Vortex

Indomitable Will

Light Shield

In case you have too many Skills on Cooldown,
you can always use Light Shield (requires active Benetnash),
and Heroic Strike as Fillers to deal Damage, while waiting for CD´s to go off.
(Decent Damage is better than no Damage)
Sidenote: Also the channeling/Animation for Light-Shield can be cancled.

5.1.3 Animation Canceling

To optimize and fulfill our Rotations,
we need to know (or learn) how to cancel Animations.
As said above, we will use Animation-Cenceling to Maintain and increase our DPS.
So let me show you, how Ani-Cancel does work in Revelation.
Theres different ways, to cancel Animations of a Skill.
Some Animations will simply get canceld by activating another Skill immediately after,
others will require you to Jump (Spacebar), or one of both.
heres a few Examples:

Heroic Strike (Filler)

You can Ani-Cancle your Heroic Strike with literally every Skill you cast immediately after.

>

Conqueror´s Sweep

This Skill does have two Stages, which can be Ani-Canceled.First Stage: You can simply Cancel the Animation of the first Stage by using another Skill immediately after activating it.

>

Second Stage: you will have to Jump (Space Bar) after activating the second Stage.

>

As Example: (both Stages together)

>

>

>

>

Stage 1

Cancle

Stage 2

Jump (Spacebar)

Tornado Sweep

Broken Array

The Animation of this SKill can be cancled by activating it right after another Skill, for example: Heroic Strike
It will cancle the Channel-Time and hit the Target very fast, compared to the usual Cast-Animation.

>

Light Shield (Filler)

You can simply Ani-Cancel Light Shield by using Heroic Strike
(which is also the only skill you can use during active Light Shield)
This Ani-Cancel will save you lots of Time,
without it would take at least double the Time to use it for DPS.

This website uses cookies and third party services.
By checking this box, you confirm that you have read and are agreeing to our Terms and Conditions & Privacy Policy regarding the storage of the data submitted through this form. SETTINGS
Ok

Third Party Embeds

Reaccon may post links to third party websites on this site. These third party websites are not screened for privacy or security compliance by Reaccon, and you release us from any liability for the conduct of these third party websites.
All social media sharing links, either displayed as text links or social media icons do not connect you to any of the associated third parties, unless you explicitly click on them.
Please be aware that this Privacy Policy, and any other policies in place, in addition to any amendments, does not create rights enforceable by third parties or require disclosure of any personal information relating to members of the Service or Site. Reaccon bears no responsibility for the information collected or used by any advertiser or third party website. Please review the privacy policy and terms of service for each site you visit through third party links.

YouTube

Twitter

Google Maps

Tracking Cookies

This site uses cookies – small text files that are placed on your machine to help the site provide a better user experience. In general, cookies are used to retain user preferences, store information for things like shopping carts, and provide anonymized tracking data to third party applications like Google Analytics. Cookies generally exist to make your browsing experience better. However, you may prefer to disable cookies on this site and on others. The most effective way to do this is to disable cookies in your browser. We suggest consulting the help section of your browser.